Cap and method of making the same



A. E. COLLINS 1,974,203

CAP AND METHODOF MAKING THE SAME Sept. 18, 1934.

Filed Sept. 10, 1931 Patented Sept. 18, 1934 1,914,203 oar AND METHOD orMAKING THE same Arthur E. Collins, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, assignor V toThe B. F. Goodrich Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New YorkApplication September 10, '1931, Serial No. 562,062

7 Claims. (Cl. 154-42) I My invention relates to caps such as bathingcaps and'to procedure for the manufacture of such caps.

The objects of the invention are to provide an integral 'cap and chinband from a single blank of sheet material, to assemble such a blank .toform a complete article having a single seam so located as to providethe greatest strength, and to provide improved procedure in capmanufacture. I

In the drawing: I

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a set of die members used in cutting andseaming. the caps from a folded sheet, showing the bathing cap materialin place between the dies, the mechanism for feeding the material andfor operating thedies not being shown, as such mechanism is well knownin the art.

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of a blank suitable for producing a cap accordingto the invention.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the finished cap.

The cap, which as here shown is of the helmet type, may be formed from asingle sheet of material and may be made of a blank, such as thatillustrated in Fig. 3, of dumb-bell shape comprising side members 10 and11 of substantially semicircular shape connected by an integral chinstrap 12. The said members 10 and 11 are united along their convexmargins to form a seam 13 extending across the crown of the cap.

The cap formed in this manner may be made from very thin material, butdue to the absence of seams, except for a single seam which occurs atthe widest part of the article, the cap is of exceptional strength. Thechin band is free from seams and is therefore of such strength astowithstand stretching. Where the blank from 4 which the cap is made issymmetrical about an axis l414, as is usually the case, the materialfrom which the blank is to be cut may be folded on the axis,1414' andthe'doubled material cut at a single operation. This operation is illus-5 trated in Figs. 1 and 2, where a single sheet of material 15 is foldedon its longitudinal center line 14-44 and is then passed between acutting die 16 and an anvil or cutting block 1'7. The anvil 17 isstationary but the die 16 may be reciprocated by any well known means,such as a punchpress, toward and away from the anvil 17, makingsuccessive cuts on the material, which is intermittently advancedbetween the die and the anvil during the intervals between cuttingoperations.

- When the caps are to be made of vulcanizable plastic material, as inthe manufacture of bathing caps, the die members may be used tosimultaneously scam the convex margins of the side members 10 and 11.This is accomplished by so forming the die that the convex margins arecut and pressed into adhering and permanent contact by relatively dullportions of the die 16 while the concave margins and chin strap are cutby sharp portions of the die 16, as is well understood in the rubberworking art.

In the manufacture of bathing caps formed of rubber, the articles havingbeen cut and seamed as described herein are then subjected tovulcanization. 7

The seam 13 may be additionally reinforced if desired, as by theapplication of a reinforcing tape placed over the seam, but this isusually unnecessary in view of the fact that the seam is of such lengthand is so positioned as to extend crosswise of the direction of greateststrain.

I claim:

1. A cap comprising two side members and a chin strap formed of a singlesheet of plastic material, the side members being joined by a singleseam extending across the crown of the cap.

2. A cap comprising two side members and a chin strap formed of a singlesheet of rubber material, the side members being joined by a die-cutseam extending across the crown of the cap.

3. A cap comprising a single sheet of plastic material folded uponitself to provide two crownforming sections and a connecting chin strap,said material being united along marginal portions in a seam extendingacross the crown of the cap.

4. A cap comprising a single sheet of plastic material of approximatelydumb-bell shape including two crown forming sections and a connectingchin strap, said crown forming sections being united along marginalportions thereof in a single seam.

5. The method of making caps which comprises folding a sheet of materialon itself to form a doubled sheet, cutting a blank having a crownportion formed from each leaf of the sheet and a connecting strapportion extending across the fold of the sheet from said doubled sheetin a single operation, and seaming together the two sheets around thecrown portions of the blank.

.6. The method of making caps which comprises folding a sheet ofmaterial on itself to form a doubled sheet, die-cutting a blank fromsaid doubled sheet to provide two sides of a crown member and a chinstrap extending therebetween across the line of fold, and simultaneouslyseaming together a margin of the side members 5 of the blank to form acrown.

'7. The method of making a cap' which com-

